"Il vino e' cultura, il vino e' storia, il vino e' conoscenza delle persone, il vino e' allegria, il vino e' amicizia"

"Wine is culture, wine is history, wine is meeting people, wine is happiness, wine is friendship"

Antonio Sanguinetti, Wine Producer

History & Culture

Named Oenotria - the land of wine - by the Greeks, the great Italian tradition of winemaking actually goes back some 4,000 years to when prehistoric populations pressed wild grapes into juice which then fermented into wine. In expanding into Italy's southern reaches, the ancient Greeks dubbed their new colonies Oenotria. Art and artefacts left in spacious tombs confirm that the Etruscans were subtle practitioners of the art and the Romans propagated the cult of Bacchus to all corners of their empire.

Today, Italians drink about six times more wine than the British, with an annual Italian consumption of up to ninety litres per person. Consumed almost exclusively with food, it isn't easy to persuade the Italians to drink away from the table despite retail prices being considerably lower than in the UK or USA. For most Italians, wine is an everyday product and they do like to drink local produce from the region where they are brought up.

Production

"There are some very special grapes in Italy such as Nebbiolo, Pinot Grigio and Rosso Calabrese. They are grapes that have been rediscovered in recent years and virtually developed by the new generation of young Italian producers who tend to produce less wine but of a much higher quality."

Pietro Pesce, Wine Importer

Italian wine tends to have a high gradation and this makes it suitable as a 'mixer' for weaker foreign wines, with around 30% of national production crossing the Alps to strengthen the lower-alcohol French wines for example.

The Veneto region is Italy's leader in the production and commerce of classified wine. A major share of the DOC production consists of Soave, Bardolino and Valpolicella. The province of Treviso however includes the hillside area northwest of Venice between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene and is noted for the popular Prosecco. This dry to lightly sweet white is usually sparkling. Producers of Prosecco have been increasing Pinot and Chardonnay based spumante production which is usually dry and made either by tank fermentation or the traditional method.

Tuscany and Piedmont are perpetual rivals for the title of red wine champion. The Tuscan region can boast three exclusive D.O.C.G. labels: Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, with Piedmont offering two products of similar classification: Barolo and Barbaresco.

"Chianti has always enjoyed a tradition of fame thanks to noble families such as Frescobaldi and Antinori. In Italy, however, there is now a tendency to drink less Chianti, giving more space to new wines - actually, old wines with new tendencies."

Pietro Pesce, Wine Importer

Chianti, from the Sangiovese grape, is often regarded as the archetypal vino. It originates in seven separate D.O.C. zones that cover much of central Tuscany, particularly between Florence and Siena.

The Frescobaldi and Antinori families account for much of the commercial production. As Italians are increasingly looking to new wines or "old wines with a new face", the Marchese Antinori cellars have, in recent years, introduced Tignanello. This wine is still produced in the Chianti Classico region but combines the traditional Sangiovese grape with the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. Its success has prompted experiments with other vines including Merlot and Pinot Noir as well as international whites such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Piedmont, meaning "foot of the mountain", is noted for its powerful red wines and leads the premium field with 37 D.O.C. or D.O.C.G. zones, boasting more classified vineyards than any other Italian region. Its wine production is located mainly in two areas: the Langhe and the Monferrato hills. The capital of red wine production is Alba, particularly famous for its "Re dei vini e vino dei Re"- "king of wines and wine of kings": Barolo, as well as the Dolcetto d'Alba. The more refined Barbera dominates the everyday market.

Laws & Labels

Vernaccia di San Gimignano became the first denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wine in 1966 - this implies a wine of "particular reputation and worth". The category has since grown to include 240 officially classified DOC and DOCG (denominazione di origine controllata garantita) areas producing over 900 types of wine. The more exclusive DOCG classification adds a further guarantee of authenticity. Introduced in 1984, though this category drastically reduced the quantity but noticeably improved the quality of wine produced in Italy. These officially classified wines represent no more than 15% of the total Italian wine production. The world-wide trend in recent years to standardise vines and wines has in no way compromised the country's role as producer and exporter of more different types of wine than any other country. Often, many get no further than their region of origin and include local wines, opportunistic blends with imaginative names and a growing number of individual products that qualify as commercial rather than home-made wines.